RESUMEN
AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study was to determine the aeroallergen sensitisation patterns of children aged 5 years and younger with asthma (AS) and/or allergic rhinitis (AR) in Istanbul, Turkey. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between January and December 2018 in the outpatient clinic of a hospital department of pediatric allergy. Patients, who had regular outpatient controls, full clinical and laboratory records, positive skin prick test results, and were willing to participate in the study, were included. RESULTS: In total, 148 children aged 5 years or younger who had positive skin prick test results were included in the study. The male/female ratio and the mean age at onset of symptoms were 87/61 and 2.13±1.33 (0.4-4.5) years, respectively. Of the 148 patients, 63 (42.6%) had AS, 11 (7.4%) AR, and 74 (50.0%) had both AS and AR. The age of the patients, age at symptom onset, male/female ratio, number of allergen sensitivities, total IgE levels, total eosinophil levels, and skin prick test results for aeroallergens did not differ between the patients with AS, AR, and AS+AR. House dust mite (HDM) was the most common aeroallergen in patients, while the cockroach was the least common aeroallergen. The severity of asthma and control levels were not found to be associated with aeroallergen sensitisation in children. CONCLUSION: One out of every four atopic children aged 5 years or younger is sensitised to aeroallergens. The most common sensitisation is to house dust mites. Weed aeroallergen may be related to severity of asthma in children aged 5 years or younger in Istanbul. We speculate that HDM and weed allergens could be used in the diagnostic or treatment strategies for the management of asthmatic children aged 5 years or younger.
Asunto(s)
Alérgenos/efectos adversos , Asma/etiología , Rinitis Alérgica/etiología , Alérgenos/inmunología , Asma/diagnóstico , Asma/inmunología , Preescolar , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Masculino , Rinitis Alérgica/diagnóstico , Rinitis Alérgica/inmunología , Factores de Riesgo , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Pruebas Cutáneas , TurquíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Influenza is an infectious disease, dangerous for all people, especially for some risk groups such as patients with chronic diseases and health care workers. But most of the people under the risk of influenza, including health care workers are not immunised because of misinformation. In this study, we aimed to determine the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma and parents of such children related to influenza vaccination. Attitudes and beliefs of physicians treating these patients about influenza vaccination were also investigated. METHODS: Two different questionnaires consisting of various items related to influenza vaccine were distributed to physicians and patients and parents of children with asthma and allergic disease. RESULTS: The physicians group consisted of 189 physicians from various branches. About one third of physicians from various branches reported that they did not believe the vaccine's effectiveness. Most of the participating physicians did not immunise themselves with influenza vaccination despite the fact that any patient of theirs had died due to influenza infection. Although nearly half of the 183 patients had been vaccinated with influenza vaccine, only 27% of adults and 11.7% of children had been vaccinated annually. CONCLUSIONS: Asthmatic patients are not immunised regularly with influenza vaccine due to misperceptions about vaccine effectiveness and fear of adverse effects. Another important reason of this is that most the physicians caring for these patients neither immunise themselves nor recommend the vaccine to their patients.
Asunto(s)
Asma , Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en Salud , Vacunas contra la Influenza , Vacunación/psicología , Vacunación/estadística & datos numéricos , Adulto , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Padres/psicología , Pacientes/psicología , Médicos/psicología , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Many surveys worldwide have consistently demonstrated a low level of asthma control and under-utilization of preventive asthma drugs. However, these studies have been frequently criticized for using population-based samples, which include many patients with no or irregular follow-ups. Our aim, in this study, was to define the extent of asthma drug utilization, control levels, and their determinants among children with asthma attending to pediatric asthma centers in Turkey. Asthmatic children (age range: 6-18 yr) with at least 1-yr follow-up seen at 12 asthma outpatient clinics during a 1-month period with scheduled or unscheduled visits were included and were surveyed with a questionnaire-guided interview. Files from the previous year were evaluated retrospectively to document control levels and their determinants. From 618 children allocated, most were mild asthmatics (85.6%). Almost 30% and 15% of children reported current use of emergency service and hospitalization, respectively; and 51.4% and 53.1% of children with persistent and intermittent disease, respectively, were on daily preventive therapy, including inhaled corticosteroids. Disease severity [odds ratio: 12.6 (95% confidence intervals: 5.3-29.8)], hospitalization within the last year [3.4 (1.4-8.2)], no use of inhaled steroids [2.9 (1.1- 7.3)], and female gender [2.3 (1.1-5.4)] were major predictors of poor asthma control as defined by their physicians. In this national pediatric asthma study, we found a low level of disease control and discrepancies between preventive drug usage and disease severity, which shows that the expectations of guidelines have not been met even in facilitated centers, thus indicating the need to revise the severity-based approach of asthma guidelines. Efforts to implement the control-based approach of new guidelines (Global Initiative for Asthma 2006) would be worthwhile.